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Title: Software Flaws Skewed Analysis Of Urban Sprawl; New Report Due

Source: THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT AND THE LEDGER-STAR, NORFOK, VA

Publication date: 2000-04-29

A federal study that reported that Virginia's and the nation's development pace doubled in the 1990s contained errors and is being revised. A computer programming glitch was found in a widely publicized U.S. Department of Agriculture analysis that sparked debate about urban sprawl.

The USDA released its National Resources Inventory in December. Published every five years, the recent study showed that 3.2 million acres of farmland, forests and open space was developed annually throughout the country from 1992 to 1997, compared to 1.4 million acres per year from 1982 to 1992. The Virginia figures were 93,440 acres per year in the '90s against 45,360 acres annually in the '80s.

The fanfare surrounding the December announcement of the USDA study - which Vice President Al Gore seized upon to forward his anti- sprawl platform - was in contrast to the announcement posted April 19 on the USDA's Web site.

The announcement states the study's results now "should be used only as preliminary data until revisions are complete."

The error is attributed to a computer program Iowa State University used to process the data.

It was unclear from the bulletin whether fixing the revised study would show more development had occurred or less. Officials with the USDA could not be reached for comment.

The Web posting said revised data will be available in June.

Reach Lewis Krauskopf at 222-5207 or lkrausko(AT)pilotonline.com

) 2000, YellowBrix, Inc. http://realcities.yellowbrix.com/pages/realcities/Story.nsp?story_id=10248550&site=charlotte&ID=realcities&scategory=Energy

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